The Old And The Middle Aged, East London Scenes On A Sunday Morning

The best time to look undisturbed at the weird and eclectic mix of East London's architecture is on a Sunday morning between 9 and 12 o'clock. There is absolutely no traffic and the streets have a tired and empty feel, except for the occasional suffering soul, who has not survived Satruday night to well and is staggering home. The others, the well behaved citizens are in church.

During that time - if I am in the mood - I walk and drive the streets of this small coastal town, that is fast asleep. I understand that some of you don't see much sense in this and think that I rather should be sitting on the church bank too for my onw sake and be preached to throroughly, but my vision of paradise can not be delayed - I have to find it here on earth - and my hall of prayer is under the blue sky. And no, I don't like singing and praying in fellowship.

When I arrived in East London a couple of years ago, somebody said to me: 

"There is suburbia (the predominantly white living areas), there is Mdantsane (the second biggest township in South Africa) and there is downtown (Oxford and Buffalostreet) ". In a way that intrigued me and today I find that this is really true. Downtown is where we are now. And during the week there is a whole lot of life.

And what do people do, the ones who are awake and sober, on a Sunday morning, when they are not in church? Traveling to and from East London.

And helping each other to travel.

Victorian old buildings stand next to the middle aged ones in this part of town. The old ones have not lost their grace and elegance.

While the middle aged ones are a testimony of the 1970's when the countries of the Socialist and Communist Eastern block left their architectural traces all over Africa by constructing Erich Honeker style buidlings. Their ideal of beauty stands in sharp contradiction to the one of the old ones.

One of the Walter Sisulu Univesity Campuses

unfortunately closed.

Under The Boardwalk By The Sea

Dark And Lovely

Dark and Lovely is what you have to be !

Or thin and blonde !

Your hair should be straight no matter what the color of your skin.

At the end of  many a road  you will be remebered of this fact,

like here in Church Street in Quigney

so that you do not forget what the world wants.

The OK Beauty Salon

A visit is gonna make you feel really OK.

Number Seventeen

I can still feel your elegance

I can almost see the beauty of your youth

I can sense your old school class

 

Number 17 you are beautiful !

I would never lie

I stood  20 minutes right in front of you.

And I had the strange feeling that it was hard to say Good Bye

I was asked by a friend the other day: Why are you so mad about the old houses in this town?

The old colonial house are of an incredible architectural elegance. I am not limited to the colonial architecture in my preferences.There are many styles that I like especially the architecture of modern mid century. But the houses in the older suburbs of East London radiate a class that is hard to imitate even if they are in a condition of total decay and degradation. Like old human beings you can still see they aura clearly. 

An Empty Plate Is Never Fun

A while ago I wrote about a cat who lives in an Antiques Shop in Quigney. The shop consists of three old colonial houses and for the cat it must be truly paradise. There should be a lot of mice and rats under the old wooden floors. But obvoiusly even in paradise one can get lazy.

And an empty bowl is never funny !

A man who works in the shop said to me : He makes people come closer and stroke him. But when you touch him, he bites you. A true Quigney cat ! "

Beachfront Lounge Around

The African market at the Esplanade is always a nice place to be

Every day African artists exhibit their products on the pavement.

A relaxed atmosphere prevails, except if there is rain.

A lot of " lounging around " under clear sky takes place

If there is a lot of wind some weight is added to the open-air shops through stones that serve to secure the table cloths on which the items are displayed

Boardwalkers enjoy it and might be convinced to buy the one or other item...

while vendors keep their calm at all cost.

Welcome To Slummies

East London has lately been called Slummies.
The inventor of this name was an un-known graffiti artist who had left his mark in form of a welcome greeting " Welcome To Slummies " on a wall at the entry to East London. This comparison with a slum has upset many residents who love their town dearly. 

The welcome greeting has been removed meanwhile but one can still see where the artist had received his inspiration from.

On a Tuesday at one o' clock in the suburb of Quigney the waste is still out on the streets waiting for the collection trucks to come.

It's not only out but it's all over. Waste removal management poses a big challenge to Buffalo City Municipality. And all suburbs face the same problem that the waste is either too much, collected to late or sometimes not collected at all.

It's business as usual for the hair saloon up the street

Trash piles up on the streets everywhere. Attempts to keep it in plastic bags are scarce. And it does not help much either because dogs ravage through the bags and tear them open in search for something edible before the trucks come.

The residents of Quigney have meanwhile a rat problem. I have seen three of them in half an hour in broad daylight while taking these pictures.
What to do ?

The municipality has problems in solving this situation alone. Residents attempts to do their part are rather scarce as well. Once the trash is out of the house, it's definitely out - it is not an individual responsibility anymore.  But without personal commitment to a waste removal and waste separation system it's going to be a " Warm Welcome to Slummies ".

The Quigney will be The Quigney

The Buffalo City Municipality has created Urban Renewal Programms to upgrade some of the oldest suburbs of East London. I have done a little research on The Quigney. And here is something interesting from old archives about the history of this characterful and unique suburb :

The Quigney is a suburb of East London and derived its name from the stream which flows down the valley from above the railway station to the harbour, and along which the railway line now runs. The earliest maps of East London, those drawn in September 1847 by Lieutenant William Jervois, refer to this stream as the "Gwygney River" and for many years this spelling was consistently used. In time, however, the pronunciation changed to the modern-day "Quigney". The residential area across the river likewise evolved its name rather than being formally given one. When the municipality began to sell land in that area after 1883, it was described as "east of the Quigney River", a title which eventually truncated into "The Quigney".

It was unfortunate that awareness of the value of the Quigney as a tourist attraction was not immediately taken into account by the Town Council. Indeed, as early as January 1883 the editor of the East London Dispatch called attention to the problem. The Quigney, he wrote, was beginning to be opened up but its future as a holiday centre hinged on the prevention of sub- dividing the plots. During the holiday season, the editor wrote, when so many visitors came to East London and their white tents dotted "the greensward on the shore", they were reminded forcibly that East London had a character "as a watering place" as well as a port. He concluded therefore that a "special method" needed to be observed in laying out the area and as regards buildings to be permitted.

It was to East London's detriment that the appeal fell on deaf ears and no regulations to prevent sub-division of plots came into force until 1895, by which time the damage had become irreparable. Instead therefore of achieving the status of a holiday area, as the Dispatch had proposed, the suburb degenerated into a poor socio-economic suburb, with houses built close together and without sufficient planning.

The moment had been lost to East London and only today, almost a century later, is cognisance being taken of the Quigney's value as a tourist area, but it will probably take some decades more before that dream will be fully realised. Lack of attention to such an important consideration meant, therefore, that East London's beachfront area would in time lose its popularity and the town itself would eventually decline as an important tourist centre ( from the Wikipedia).

From a town-planning of view all the above said might be true but nevertheless it is the fact that this suburb has never been planned properly for housing development that has given it it's unique and very colorful character.

And here is a print of an old picture that I have found a while ago. It shows the  white tents of the holiday makers at the beachfront around 1880.

Beachfront Beanbags

Need a super-sized bean bag for your room ? Or you child's room ?

It comes with a German sausage dog door stopper in matching colors !

If you want one just ask the two ladies, who are passing their days sitting on the boardwalk at the beach-front, the so-called Esplanade in East London, selling them.

The Gate Of Mercy

The Gate of Mercy looks at you and your pitiful devaluating facial expression while you pass by and it says with confidence:

" I have a right to exist, so just walk on "

It has seen others like you before.

Quigney